Roger Chillingworth
Roger Chillingworth is a major character and main antagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. He is the husband of Hester Prynne, who arrived in America with a changed identity. He becomes a doctor, but as he finds out about his wife's adultery, he plans to take revenge on her love affair, and turns into a more twisted and evil man. Description Roger Chillingworth is viewed as one of the principle antagonists in American literature. As his name suggests, Chillingworth is the definitive example of evil. From the start, when he took the job as a physician, the Puritans looked up to him as a blessing. But when he begins his plan of revenge, he becomes more sadistic than he was before. Some examples of these include his medical practices and experiments deeply resemble witchcraft, as if he is actually practicing it to harm others. Chillingworth is not a Puritan like Hester and Dimmesdale. He was held hostage by Native Americans after his arrival in Boston, and despite him fitting in such as wearing Puritan clothing, he is unable to convert and be part of their society and religion. Even if he was originally a scholar, Chillingworth managed to study about medicine and herbs, and also used them as black magic to torment Dimmesdale and to keep him alive in order to achieve his vengeance on him. Because of Chillingworth's ruthless acts of revenge, he may often be compared to the Devil. He couldn't connect with anyone in his youth and only wanted to cause self-inflicted torture on Dimmesdale. He also made sure his victim never escaped from him, especially when he attempted to board the ship leaving Boston where Hester and Dimmesdale were in. His appearance and personality make him ominous to everyone; even to his young wife Hester. Even in death, Chillingworth's satanic attitude subsided and offered an inheritance to Hester's daughter Pearl. Storyline Arrival at Boston Roger Prynne grew up in England. As an adult, he studied alchemy and became a scholar. He married a younger woman named Hester Prynne and moved to Amsterdam with her. After the establishment of the Boston Colony, Prynne send his wife ahead as one of the emigrants, while he stayed behind in Amsterdam to finish with his affairs and would join her soon. He ended up leaving her alone in Boston for 2 years and hardly stayed in touch with her. He eventually boarded a ship to Boston but during the trip, he had been shipwrecked at sea and when he does arrive in America, he is captured and held captive by the Native Americans. At some point, he may had escaped and to protect his true identity, he changes his surname to Chillingworth. Chillingworth enters Boston disguised in Native American clothing. He goes to the marketplace and stands behind a crowd, where he sees Hester standing on top of the scaffold with her baby in her arms, being publicly shamed for adultery. He is shocked to see her, and when they see each other, he places his finger to his lips and made a gesture to keep her quiet. He then asks a stranger in the crowd about Hester's crime and identity, and claimed that he had been a prisoner by the Natives before arriving in Boston. The man is surprised that Chillingworth hasn't heard of Hester's sin and the former scholar begins to hear about Hester's history (even though he already knew about it following her marriage to her). Personalities/Appearance Relationships Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Villains Category:17th-century characters Category:Husbands Category:Villains Who Die At The End Category:Smart characters Category:Major Characters Who Die At The End Category:Deceased characters